After all these Years
by tayuyaflutegirl92
Summary: Jiraiya comes back and finds Tsunade mourning him. Naruto and sakura notice they love each other and decide to do something about it. Jiratsu/Narusaku Oneshot


The war with Akatsuki had just passed, and Konoha village was as close to peace as it could be. They had lost a lot in the war, and it had almost cost Konoha everything they had. Naruto had proved himself worthy of being called Jiraiya's apprentice, for it was he who had been the key to victory. It was a Thursday afternoon and Tsunade was alone, visiting Jiraiya's grave. It had been a very long time and his service had passed long ago, it was a lost case, nobody had ever believed that he might be alive, no one except her and Naruto, and lately even he had seemed to lose hope. The sun was low, yet not quite setting, and a breeze was blowing her hair back. A single tear rolled down her cheek, she felt alone. When Dan and Nawaki had died, she had known that Jiraiya would always be there for her, she had never thought that she would get to see the end of him, her best friend and maybe something else. She had gone there to say a final farewell to her best friend, she had kept the hope that he might be alive because she wanted it to be true, she knew things don't happen just because you want them to, and it had been too long. There she was, immersed in her own thoughts, when she heard some footsteps on the grass.  
The man looked at her, the woman he had loved for so long and still loved, and yet he knew he wasn't brave enough to tell her about his feelings. He decided to go towards her, even though he wasn't sure of what her reaction would be. He had been standing there for quite a long while, just looking at her and the sun. Jiraiya had just returned to Konoha Village, he had been mortally wounded: his throat had been crushed, amongst other things, and if it wouldn't have been for a young woman who had seen and pulled him out of the river into which he fell, he would have died. During his recovery, Jiraiya vowed to himself that when, and if, he made it to Konoha he would tell Tsunade about his feelings. He decided to go out of his hiding place and reveal himself to Tsunade, and to see what happened.

Tsunade immediately turned around and adopted a defensive pose. The source of the footsteps was in the shadows and all she could see was a silhouette, as the person kept on walking towards her, she recognized him. "Naruto, if that's you, it's not funny, you know how I feel about jokes like this"

Nothing happened, the man just kept on walking. When he got near enough, he said "I've sure missed you, Tsunade-chan."

"Jiraiya?" she asked, with her head slightly cocked to her side and an inquiring gaze

"The one and only" said he.

"I…I… I don't understand, you… you are supposed to be dead, the frog… and…" She ran to him and hugged her friend. He hugged her back, and they stayed like that for a short while, then Tsunade broke free of the embrace. She was crying, but the look on her face was anything but romantic. She put her hands on her hips and yelled "Why didn't you send word? All of Konoha has been worried sick about you! We even made a funeral for you, and you just come parading in here as if nothing had happened? And why did you send that frog if you were alive? You had me worried sick, I mourned for you! I was genuinely sad, you jerk!"

She crossed her arms and looked away in a childish fashion. When she had said the genuinely sad part, Jiraiya noticed an expression of real sorrow in her face, as if she had really been hurting, but it was immediately succeeded by one of anger. He looked at her and shut his ears to her; he thought: After being away for so long, one would have expected her to reaction to be different, but well, this _is_ Tsunade we are talking about. He thought of expressing his thoughts to her but then decided against it, he had just recovered from his injuries enough to come back to Konoha, and a punch from Tsunade was definitely not what he needed right now. He decided to get serious, so he put his hand on the back of his head said

"Well, just thought I'd let you know I was back, so be seeing you around. Anyway, I gotta go and find Naruto to tell him I'm back." "And hopefully he'll take it better" he added to himself.

The sun was setting and the light was a rich shade of orange. Jiraiya walked away, slightly limping, into the sunset, he was wondering where Naruto was when he heard Tsunade say "Jiraiya, are you injured?"

"Well, I _did_ almost die, and I'm just recovering from serious injuries, so you could say I am injured"

"So, where do you think you are going? If you are injured you are coming to the hospital with me, you should not be walking about."

"Sorry, but I can't, I gotta go find Naruto, maybe I'll swing by later"

The truth was that Jiraiya's leg was hurting a lot, his throat had not fully healed, and he needed to rest, and Tsunade knew it "Jiraiya, it was not a suggestion, you will come with me, and I mean it." She had caught up to him and grabbed him by the wrist. They had walked a short distance when Jiraiya started wincing in pain "Are you okay, Baka-kun?" she asked him "Here," she said "use my shoulder for support".

Shortly, they arrived to the hospital, where Tsunade led Jiraiya to a room. There she checked for injuries and healed them, and then she said "There, you'll live, now do us all a favor and rest. If you want me to, I'll go fetch Naruto."

Jiraiya nodded, but he was very tired, so he closed his eyes.

You were tired, huh, Jiraiya, well, sleep well, thought Tsunade and sat on the chair for visitors for a while. Then she got up and decided to look for Naruto. Tsunade had been with Jiraiya for half an hour, and the sun had already set. The night was clear and warm, and the moon was just rising. There was a devilish breeze which toyed with her hair and cooled the night. She went directly to Ichiraku Ramen, where, sure enough, she found Naruto. She approached him and said "Hey, Naruto, can I talk to you?" Naruto looked up at her with a full mouth  
"At ih it, uade A-chan?" He swallowed and said "What is it, Tsunade Baa-chan?"

Tsunade's only reply was "Follow me, you'll like this."

Naruto stood up, not before saying "Hey, old man, save that for me, I'll be back soon!"

Tsunade led Naruto to the hospital and when they had arrived, she said "Naruto, there's someone in there I think you'd like to see" she opened the door and Naruto went in. Tsunade closed the door to give them a moment alone, she was hardly done closing it when she heard the scream "EEEERRRROOO-SSSEEENNNNNNIIINNN YOU'RE ALIVE!!!!!!!!!!!" She smiled to herself and left for the Hokage tower.

When she got to the Hokage tower, neither Shizune nor Sakura were there, so she went to the window, sat on the windowsill, and stared into the night. She looked at the stars and moon, and wondered why, why didn't she tell Jiraiya? Why didn't she cry? Why did she repeat the same mistake every chance she got? She was thrilled to have him back, and yet, couldn't tell him what she felt; instead she had scolded him, why? She knew the answer to those questions, and recalled a story her mother used to tell her when she was a little girl. It was a legend about two people who loved each other but were too scared to tell each other. At the end they died without knowing that they could have been happy if they only chose to, the only thing they had to do was to risk a little something. She remembered telling her mother that those people were stupid, that if she were the one in the story, she would have confessed her love to him right from the start. Children sure know how to go about life, she thought, if only we kept that until we grew up. She thought about Dan, and about how much she had loved him, and yet, when the time had come, she had been able to do nothing. She shed a single tear, not knowing if for Dan, Jiraiya or if the tear was for herself. She breathed a couple of times and quieted her mind; she looked at the beautiful night and let the wind blow on her face and mess with her hair.

While Tsunade was sitting on the windowsill Sakura arrived. She looked at Tsunade and wondered why she was like that.  
"Tsunade-sama, are you okay?"  
This question pulled Tsunade out of her reverie; she looked at Sakura and decided that if she was going to trust someone, it might as well be Sakura, so she stood up, sighed and said  
"Sit down" When they had sat down Tsunade said "Sakura, I know you are very young, but have you ever loved someone, and yet, were never brave enough to tell him of your feelings?"  
Sakura thought for a while, she had liked Naruto for some time now, but she wasn't sure if she should tell him yet, but to her it didn't qualify as not being brave enough; but then she thought again, maybe it was, she had known Naruto liked her for a while, and what she had to do was to tell him, but she just kept postponing it. Sakura nodded and Tsunade said "Well, it's something like that, but I've had so many chances to tell him, and just see what happens, but, when it comes to love I'm a real coward, and ever since Dan died, I've never been able to find someone as important for me, and it's all because I'm too insecure. When I was your age, I was the most sought after girl, and I thought a lot of myself. I could get any boy I wanted just by looking at him, I was _that_ confident. Then I met Dan, what I liked the most about him was that I didn't have to be anybody else around him, only me. I had gotten to love him as much as a person can love another, and then he died on me. Ever since, I've lost confidence in myself regarding men. After Dan died, I was heartbroken and thought I couldn't love anyone any more. But then, I noticed this guy whom I had known all my life. He was my best friend at the time, he teased me a lot, and yet I liked him a lot. When we parted our separate ways, I thought I had gotten over him, and yet, when I last saw him, my heart beat so fast I was afraid he would notice it. I can't believe I can be so childish about love, and yet, here I am wondering whether he likes me or not."  
Sakura was perplexed. She had never imagined Tsunade-sama to be such an insecure person, she had always thought that Tsunade was alone because she wanted to, because she didn't like anyone; but it did make sense, Sakura wondered who Tsunade-sama was talking about, and only one person came to mind, Jiraiya-sama. It made sense, they had been teammates ever since they graduated from the academy, and they probably had been very good friends. Sakura looked at Tsunade, then she looked down and asked "Is it Jiraiya-sama?"  
Tsunade looked at her, and then replied "You know he is alive!? How come?"  
"I was in the hospital when I heard Naruto scream about Ero-sennin being alive, so I went to see what was going on, and sure enough, he was there."  
"Anyway, it _is_ him" said Tsunade as she looked downward and joined her hands together, one around the other, and touched her index fingertips with one another "Is it that obvious?  
Sakura smiled and said "Well, it's not obvious, but he was the only one to fit that description"  
Tsunade thought for a while, "Hmm, I didn't remember mentioning the words pervert or stupid" Both of them laughed. The chat about Tsunade's feelings was over, and Sakura knew when she should stop pushing.  
She was looking for another topic for conversation when Tsunade asked "So, who is it that you haven't ventured to confess your love to?"  
"Well…" Sakura blushed "It's… It's Naruto"  
"Ha! I knew it!" said Tsunade triumphantly "I knew there was something between you two!"  
Sakura turned even redder "You did?" she asked  
"Well, I assumed it ever since Naruto came to my office in his daily routine of annoying me, and you were in here. He had burst through the door and was ready to yell something at me when he saw you. When he saw you, he put his hand on the back of his head and said 'Hello, Sakura-chan' and then started to yell at me. I, who never really pay attention to what he says – because it's usually some crap about new missions- looked at you. You were looking at him with dreamy eyes and a little smile on your face, so I assumed you liked him."  
Sakura laughed self consciously, she remembered that day well. It had been one of the first days she had liked Naruto. She was about to open her mouth when Tsunade got up and said "Well, I better get to work before Shizune arrives and sees us here doing nothing. Oh, and by the way, Sakura, I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone about what I told you tonight, I'll see how I handle it, and I wouldn't like people to butt in, especially Naruto."  
"Don't worry, Tsunade-shishou, I won't tell" Sakura had already formed a plan in her mind, but she needed Naruto's help. She stood up and left the office, while Tsunade sat on her desk and started checking some files. Tsunade was glad she had told someone about her troubles, that had made them seem less important and big issues, but she still didn't know what to do next.

After Naruto had left, Jiraiya had fallen asleep again. He woke up the next day with a slight headache but feeling much better. He wondered when the nurse was coming, and who was it going to be. Then, his mind jumped to something else, he recalled the day before and thought about the expression he had seen on Tsunade's face. Had it really been there? He was sure he had seen it, but what did it mean? Jiraiya kept on thinking about Tsunade for a while when he listened to two people speaking outside.  
"Really, Sakura-chan? Ha! Who would have thought that about the baa-chan?" Naruto laughed and then said "Well, Ero-sennin did tell me…"  
Jiraiya could not listen to anything else they were saying because in that minute a pretty, dark haired, young, and cheerful looking nurse entered the room, she carried a breakfast tray, which she put on the table beside Jiraiya's bed.

"Good morning, how are we feeling today, Jiraiya-sama?"  
"Better now that you are here" replied Jiraiya with a slightly perverted smile on his face.  
The nurse didn't look pleased with the comment and said "Tsunade-sama, who will be here shortly, prohibited flirting with you, so would you please not attempt anything?"  
Jiraiya was disappointed, not only did Tsunade not love him, but she also sucked away the fun of being at the hospital; but then it was quite strange that Tsunade should forbid the nurses flirting with him if she really didn't care.  
Naruto and Sakura were outside. Sakura had told Naruto some of the things Tsunade had told her the night before, not before swearing him to secrecy and discretion, and in exchange, Naruto told Sakura about something Jiraiya had confessed to him.  
"You see... It was one night when we were camping. Ero-sennin looked kind of depressed, so I asked him what was wrong." Naruto told Sakura "' It's none of your business, Naruto, go to sleep' he replied, but I kept on pushing and pushing and he said 'Fine, I'll tell you if it will keep you quiet. I've been thinking about a woman.' What a surprise, I thought to myself, the ero-sennin thinking of women, so I asked him which one and he said 'Well, it's a woman I've known and loved for a long time. When we were young, she fell in love with somebody else and it nearly broke my heart. I've been in relationships with other women, yet, I've never been able to completely give my heart to them. But I've given up hope with her for a long time' Cheesy, I know, but that's what he said. After what seemed like hours of talking about her, I asked him 'So, who is this perfect woman?' And guess what he said"  
"If this story has a point, I guess it must be Tsunade-shishou" Sakura said  
"Exactly!" said Naruto, his face bright "When he told me, I started laughing like a madman, thinking it was a joke".  
He was interrupted by Sakura, who said "Well, I knew you were insensitive, but not that much. It obviously was not a joke!"  
"Yeah, yeah" said Naruto with a bored expression on his face "I figured that out when he didn't laugh along with me. After that, whenever I asked him he pretended not to know what I was talking about, or not to listen to me, or stuff like that."  
"Hmm… If what you just told me is true, then, maybe we could set them up"  
"Yeah, that'd be fun! Though the thought of those two kissing! OH NO!!! ARGHHHHH remove that from my mind!!!"  
"Naruto!" Sakura scolded "Anyway, we'd have to be extra careful because we would get our butts kicked by both of them if it goes wrong"  
Naruto thought for a while and said "Hey, how about a date?"  
Sakura was befuddled, she blushed, looked down and said "Ok…" Then she looked at Naruto with a different expression whatsoever on her face "Wait a minute, what does this have to do with Jiraiya-sama and Tsunade-shishou?"  
Naruto couldn't believe his ears, had Sakura-chan just accepted to go on a date he didn't even ask her to with him? He laughed "Well, if you want to, we can go out on a date, but what I meant was telling them to go eat somewhere with us, and then we" He made the quote-unquote sign with his hands "'_coincidentally_' run into each other."  
Sakura liked the idea. She said "I like the plan, yeah; I think it's the best way to get them to go out, because knowing those two, they will never go out together under normal circumstances."  
"And did you just accept to go out on a date with me?"  
Sakura was a little embarrassed, but, remembering her conversation with Tsunade, she said "Maybe… would you go on a date with me?" Her cheeks turned pink.  
"Well, maybe we could have one when we set those two up…" said Naruto, blushing.  
"Er… Okay…" said Sakura

Naruto and Sakura had changed the subject, on account of the awkwardness of the previous one, when Tsunade came walking down the hallway. She greeted them and entered Jiraiya's room. He was lying on the bed, his breakfast untouched on the table beside him. When he saw her, he said "Well, if it isn't my favorite killjoy."  
Tsunade ignored him and started to run some tests on him. She said "You're looking better; maybe you can leave the hospital in about a week, you are still very badly injured, actually, I'm surprised you could make it all the way here." She sat on the visitors' chair, and said "Jiraiya, I need to talk to you" He was intrigued. Tsunade had never told him she needed to talk to him, at least not when he didn't know what it was about, or when she didn't look angry at him.  
"Sure, spit it" he said.

It was not the best word choice, and she felt discouraged, so she didn't say all of what she meant to say, she said "Well, I'm just glad to have you back, and I'm sorry I scolded you yesterday, I didn't mean to…" It was quite embarrassing for her, so she left the room. Jiraiya was perplexed. Had that just been Tsunade apologizing to him; and because she had _scolded_ him? That was something one did not often see. He could never understand women, especially that one, but that didn't change the fact that he loved her.  
Tsunade walked away, absorbed in her thoughts, when she bumped into Shizune. "Tsunade-sama, here you are! I've been looking for you all over! The elders called for a meeting and they asked for you.  
"Fine, fine, I'm going."

Tsunade let Jiraiya out of the hospital as promised. Naruto begged him to go train, and he would probably have agreed, but Tsunade, who was there, told him that if he didn't want to be back in the hospital, he better take the rest of the day off and rest in his house.

Naruto and Sakura had already formulated the whole plan, though no further mention of the date they were to have was made. On Friday of the next week, they would tell their respective sannin to go eat somewhere. It could not be a very romantic or expensive place because the offer would obviously be refused, so they chose a small place called The Falling Leaf. It was outside the main village, it was reasonably cheap and cozy, and it was a good place for talking and not being heard, plus, it sold sake.

While said Friday came, Naruto trained with Jiraiya and Sakura trained with Tsunade. During his training, Naruto had listened to part of Jiraiya's story, or at least what he remembered. After a brutal fight, he had fallen into a river, with his throat crushed and several other serious injuries. He lost consciousness, and had nearly died. When he woke up, he was in a small wooden room, it didn't look like a hospital room, it looked more like a house. There was very little light coming into the room, there were no windows, and the temperature was warm. The general impression the room gave was one of poverty. The only furniture in it was what Jiraiya was lying on, which was a small mattress-like mat on the floor. He had a damp cloth on his forehead, his throat hurt badly and he couldn't move his legs. A young woman entered the room, she was carrying a plate with food. When she saw Jiraiya was awake, she put the plate on the floor beside him and left the room. Jiraiya ate a little, but still felt very weak, he fell asleep. He woke up again, this time feeling a little stronger. He tried moving his legs and found out that he could move them with less pain, then he tried sitting up, but it was still too early for that, so he remained in a laying position. When he woke up, he didn't know what time or day it was. He looked for the young woman who had given him the food before, but she was nowhere to be seen. He lay alone for quite a while, thinking about Naruto, and how he had grown since he had started training with him (This he did not tell Naruto, for fear of its getting into his head). After about an hour, the same young woman (He couldn't remember her name) entered the room, and, finding him awake, she asked him how he was. A lot of time had to pass before he could sit, and an even greater amount had to pass before he could walk. As soon as he had gotten strong enough, he had gotten to Konoha as fast and well as he could.

Naruto had improved a lot since he and Jiraiya had last trained together, but there still were a few things he had to work on. The training was light, usually involving frogs, and not much physical activity or advanced chakra use because Tsunade had threatened to keep Jiraiya in the hospital if she even heard a word about it.

Finally, the day came. The sunset was near, and Naruto and Jiraiya had finished their training and were preparing to go their separate ways when Naruto said "Hey, Ero-sennin, we haven't celebrated your coming back yet, and there's this place just out of town I've been dying to try, wanna go?"  
Jiraiya had planned to go work on his book, but he was hungry, and he'd rather go eat with Naruto than eating alone at his house, so he agreed to meet Naruto in a quarter of an hour.  
Sakura and Tsunade were in the Hokage palace, both very bored, so Sakura thought it was a good time to ask Tsunade. Sakura said "Tsunade-shishou, would you like to go eat something?"

"Well, it certainly beats dying of boredom in here, and Shizune is nowhere around to scold me, so sure, why not, where do you want to go?" she said in a bored tone. She wasn't in the mood to go anywhere, but if she stayed in the office it meant work, so she agreed to go.  
"I heard there is a small place just outside of Konoha, and for what they've told me, it's good"  
"Fine, just let me get ready, I'll meet you here in half an hour."  
"Okay, Tsunade-sama"

Sakura left the Hokage tower and went to look for Naruto. They had arranged to meet each other in training ground number three because of the nostalgic value it had for them. The sun was already growing in size, and its color was beginning to acquire a shade of orange. When Sakura arrived, Naruto was already there.  
He greeted her and said "Everything's going according to plan, he doesn't suspect anything."  
"He better not, 'cause the plan is just starting. Oh, and everything okay with my part too."  
"Well, time to put the next part of the plan in action. Oh, I gotta run, Ero-sennin's gonna meet me in five minutes" And with those words, Naruto ran. He arrived to meet Jiraiya just on time and they set off.

The next part if the plan involved walkie-talkies. Naruto was supposed to let Sakura know he arrived at the restaurant (without Tsunade's noticing, of course) and where they were sitting. Then, Sakura and Tsunade would arrive. Sakura would point at Naruto and Jiraiya and say something to Naruto, the desired result being to leave Jiraiya and Tsunade alone.  
Sakura went to her house get ready. She didn't believe she was actually going on a date with Naruto, and the circumstances the date was going to happen under. She changed her clothes and went to meet her master Tsunade. She got to the Hokage palace and Tsunade was still not there. She heard a sound coming from her walkie-talkie and she fished it from her purse.  
"Sakura, are you there? Over" came Naruto's voice from the small speaker  
"Yeah, did you get there already?"  
"Affirmative," Naruto enjoyed getting into character "I chose a table as close to the door as possible, you can't miss us."  
"Ok, but unless anything goes wrong, don't speak into the walkie-talkie, 'cause if Tsunade-sama hears it, she'll get suspicious, and I will pay for it"  
"Roger that" And the walkie-talkie clicked  
Sakura didn't have to wait for long before Tsunade appeared. She had changed her clothes to something a bit more formal, let her hair down and put some make-up on; the whole effect was quite good.

They arrived to the restaurant quickly, and sure enough, Naruto and Jiraiya were close to the door. Tsunade meant to ignore them, but Sakura said "Look who's there, Naruto and Jiraiya-sama, let's go say hello!"  
Tsunade had no choice but to go with Sakura.  
When Naruto saw Sakura and Tsunade enter the room, he said "Hey, Ero-sennin, look who's there, Sakura-chan and Tsunade baa-chan! Sakura-chan sure looks pretty, and Tsunade baa-chan is not bad either!" Jiraiya looked their way, and when he saw Tsunade, he had to agree with Naruto. She was wearing a simple black dress, which showed less cleavage than what she usually wore, and yet was more favorable to her figure. She wore black heels and very little jewelry. And Sakura was nowhere behind, she was wearing a short turquoise top and a black skirt, which didn't reach her knees. Jiraiya and Naruto both stood up and greeted them.  
Naruto greeted them, smiling a bit too much "Hey, Sakura-chan, Tsunade baa-chan, what a _coincidence_, huh?"  
"Yeah, isn't it?" said Sakura cheerfully  
Meanwhile, Jiraiya and Tsunade exchanged glances, both thinking this was too much of a coincidence.  
Sakura and Naruto carried on about what a coincidence this was and she made up an excuse to go sit somewhere. Tsunade and Jiraiya were left alone, standing near the table in which Jiraiya and Naruto had been sitting at a while ago. He pulled a chair for her and she sat down, he sat beside her. A waiter arrived at their table and asked what they were going to order.  
The restaurant was a small place, not ostentatiously, decorated, yet it was not what one might call austere. It was mostly windows, and the view you could see depended on the place you were sitting. The night was young, and a full moon was appearing in the sky. The table Naruto and Jiraiya had originally chosen faced east, and you could see the moon rising among the blooming sakura trees.

They both ordered sake, Jiraiya had some sukiyaki and Tsunade had miso soup and sushi. While they ate, she asked him about what had happened, how he had survived, and things like that. After they had both had some sake, silence reigned. Both of them had things to say to each other, but neither of them wanted to say it. They both broke the silence at the same time  
"Jiraiya, have you ever…" Tsunade said  
And Jiraiya, at the same time said "Tsunade, I need to talk to you"  
Both of them were embarrassed and tried to make the other speak. Finally, Tsunade managed to muster some courage; she blushed and finally spoke "Jiraiya, ever since you left, I've been thinking. When Dan died, you were the only person who was there for me, and… well… I guess that ever since, I've loved you." She looked down, Jiraiya was surprised, that had been the thing he had wanted to talk to her about "At the beginning, I thought it was only a crush, and that I might be mistaking it with friendship, then, I realized that I was not mistaken and that the crush would not go away. Nevertheless, I turned you down, because I was scared, scared you might leave me like Dan did – God, this is pathetic, only I bring another man up when telling someone I love him – so I decided to leave. I thought I had gotten over you, but when you showed up with Naruto and asked me to be Hokage; I realized I still held the same feelings toward you. When you 'died', I cried like I had never cried for anyone in my life. Maybe if I had been younger; and the circumstances had been different, we would have been together for a long time, probably married and, who knows, even with grandchildren, but you know, the things I know now, compared to the ones I knew then, I'd rather have it be now than before."  
Her hand was lying on the table and Jiraiya took it in both of his. "To tell you the truth, Tsunade-chan, I was going to talk to you about the same thing."  
Her heart fluttered; at least she had given it a try.  
"What I was going to say was that I… love you, and I've tried to forget it, but I can't, so I had decided to take one more chance, though I didn't expect you to accept me."  
Black and amber eyes met. He held her hand more tightly than before and smiled; she smiled tenderly back, holding his gaze.

The date between Naruto and Sakura was going differently. They had eaten and spoken about several things, and it didn't feel too differently to eating together, like they sometimes did. This was only different because it felt more serious and more romantic to them. Naruto said "Hey, Sakura-chan, this is a date, right? 'Cause it doesn't feel like one."  
"I guess… we are alone, eating together, but it sure doesn't feel like a date.  
"Maybe it's just because we are used to being together." She said  
"So… what does this mean?" asked Naruto, looking at his shoes  
"I'm not sure… but what I know is that I am having fun." Sakura's face brightened as she said it, she was enjoying herself, and Naruto was being really mature.  
"You think… You think we might do this again some other day?" Naruto, too, was gaining more confidence  
"Sure, why not?"

Naruto suddenly remembered their masters, and wondered how they were doing. He told Sakura about it and they decided to go spy. They crawled under a table near the two sannin. What they heard was "To tell you the truth, Tsunade-chan, I was going to talk to you about the same thing." Tsunade-chan? Naruto mouthed with an inquiring glance. Sakura just shrugged; she put her finger to her lips, Jiraiya was speaking again. "What I was going to say was that I… love you, and I've tried to forget it, but I can't, so I had decided to take one more chance, though I didn't expect you to accept me." Sakura smiled, aw, she mouthed.

Jiraiya was holding Tsunade's hand, when her smile grew and she pointed to a nearby table and to her ear, sure enough, Jiraiya sensed someone there. He smiled, in knowledge of who it was. "Are you done, Tsunade-chan?" he asked  
"Yeah, what about you?"  
"I'm done too, so why don't we ask for the check and leave?"

"Well, we _did_ come with Naruto and Sakura, so we should at least tell them we're leaving" she left her chair and went to the table Naruto and Sakura were under "Hey, Jiraiya and I are leaving, you are free for the night, but do not think you'll not be punished for eavesdropping."  
The check had come while Tsunade was scolding Naruto and Sakura, and Jiraiya had paid. When Tsunade returned, they left the restaurant.

They walked in silence for a while, looking at the moon dye the cherry blossoms on the sakura trees a silvery white. The night sky had a deep blue color, and the only light that shone was that of the moon. The weather was warm and there was no breeze. He took her hand for the second time in the evening, and she accepted it. They walked in silence a while longer, and then she said "Hey, remember our first kiss?"  
He looked at the sky dreamily and said "How could I forget? It was my first kiss."  
"Yeah, mine too, and it is the one I have the best memory of." Tsunade got closer to Jiraiya. He released her hand and put his arm around her waist.  
"Do you remember where that kiss was?" asked Jiraiya  
"Of course! It was a mission we had, just us two and our sensei. He had left to 'investigate' the town – though we both knew he was off to do something else – and we decided to go for a walk. We sat down on the ground and you leaned over towards me and kissed me." Her voice was low, warm and quiet, as if she was still in that memory.

Silence reigned again; the only sound was that of their feet. They were approaching Konoha when Tsunade spoke again. "Hey, if what you told me is true, then, well, remember that night when we were drinking sake in Tanzaku City, when you came to ask me if I wanted to be Hokage, you said you'd never date a woman my age."  
"It was just to hide my feelings, like you rejected me so many times, even though you said you've loved me since after Dan died"  
Tsunade was still not convinced with this answer, but she decided to let it go.  
They had reached Tsunade's house in what seemed like two minutes. Jiraiya suddenly grew self-conscious "Well, here we are" he said and put his hands behind his back.  
Tsunade laughed, she hugged him and said "I had a good time", stood on her toes, pulled him towards her, and kissed him.

This was my first fanfic ever and the product of lots of free time, so I hope you liked it! please review!!!!

P.S.: I don't own any of the characters featured here.


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